Everyday Systems

Hello NoS friends:)
I am starting a new topic to renew my commitment to live and eat with moderation. I really need to kick the sugar habit and improve my health because I am 10 weeks pregnant with my 4th child and my blood sugar has been a bit high. As many parents out there know, life with 3 kids under 6 yrs and 1 on the way can get very chaotic. I've been feeling overwhelmed with daily tasks and then eating compulsively in an attempt to de-stress. This backfires of course, leaving me feeling rotten and my bloodsugar soaring and then crashing. Instead of enjoying time with my children I often get overly frustrated with housework and swing from "binge cleaning" to burnout and things end up a wreck in the end anyway. This is silly. In general I think a more gentle, systematic approach to life will help simplify things. So here is my plan...thanks so much!

Morning (before children wake up):
10 prayer/meditation
10-15 minute prenatal workout
Coffee!
Breakfast with Children
10 minute tidy up
School time
Lunch
10 minute tidy up
Take children outside/read/play
Prep dinner
Family Dinner/ all tidy up

My goals are to keep life peaceful by not over committing myself to too many activities. If I break down my chores into small doable tasks each day I can avoid my typical mountain sized load of laundry or every single dish being dirty at once. I have a limited time alone so instead hiding in my room to eat cake I'd rather use that time in a more nourishing way. I always feel better after I do some MODERATE exercise like walking or low impact strength training. Life is better without the capricious swinging from one extreme to another.

My pre-baby weight was 145 at 5ft 8in and my doctor recommended gaining between 25-30 pounds during this pregnancy. So I don't want to go over 175lbs this pregnancy. I plan to eat a nourishing NOS diet with at least one big salad per day with healthy fats and protein and veggies in each meal. I will be cutting out white flour, sugar and bad oils and keep any sweets to Sundays with the family.

Well, my toddler inexplicably woke up at 1 am last night...she was ready to chat, play, eat and put on her shoes! I got her to go back to sleep around 3 am. This morning I felt like Clint Eastwood from Gran Torrino/Nick Nolte from anything....so there has not been "meditation before the kids wake up" or "10-15 minutes of exercise".
However..I will not let this bog me down. Right now my littles are happily building a mega-fort while i check in with you and sip coffee. I'll pick up where I left off:)
We had a good breakfast of eggs on toast with avocado.

Welcome, and even though mine is "grown and flown" how I remember trying to have some type of sane routine or even a loose structure in my days despite the sleep deprivation among the other joys of motherhood. Glad you are posting, I find just THAT alone can be helpful to put your plans (even though they may change often) in writing to have something to strive for even when the "littles" sometimes put a kink in them. (but it's all good, enjoy the long days with them, as the years do fly by quickly).

April thank you! It's so heartwarming to hear from someone who's been there:)

I was unfortunately quite grumpy and sharp to my husband as soon as he got home from work...I apologized and he was very patient and kindly handled dinner. Today was thankfully a NoS success and actually very sweet with my girls. Lots of outside time despite the cold and wind!
Eggs on toast + avocado
Taco salad + brocolli
Pizza
Along with my prenatal vitamins and lots of water throughout today.

I'm praying for sleep!

Hi there! Here's hoping you can have a great pregnancy with moderate eating and reasonable amounts of rest!!

I have wonky blood sugar when I make poor food choices. I have worn a dexcom for one year and a libre freestyle for a couple months. I also used a glucometer for ages. I love to "talk shop" about blood sugar regulation.

Oh, and I'm with April about the importance of tracking here. The daily habit is very helpful.

Congratulations on your pregnancy. Life might seem hard at the moment but treasure them whilst they are young, they grow and leave so soon.

Jx

Ok...so it has been so long since I posted and want to get back to regular check-ins because it helps me so much!
I'm 20 weeks now and doing well! I just really, really want to finally put 21 days in a row together of green days!

So here I go:)
Today is green so far!

Congrats on 20 weeks! Do you know if you're having a boy or a girl? If not, have you had an ultrasound at least to get to see all those adorable limbs moving around and lovely face?

Yes I did have my 20 week ultrasound and it was just amazing to see my little baby, moving, sucking his/her thumb, and healthy! We are going to wait to find out the gender at birth:)

The last 2 days my eating was way off...grazing...full blown red days. So I'm marking them red and moving on. I think I'll check in each morning with what I plan to eat and then check in to report how I did.

Today my food plan:
Omelet with avocado
Tuna on salad
Indian curry on rice with gluten free naan

Also...one annoying fact I've had to accept over the last few weeks is that I am officially gluten intolerant. It has caused digestive problems, headaches, skin rashes etc for years....So one mod I must add is No gluten. For 2 weeks I've removed it and already felt 90% better until last night I ate regular bread and woke up puffy with a headache. Mystery solved for me as far as my symptoms are concerned.

The 20 week ultrasound is so exciting!! Sorry about the Gluten!! That would be hard!

Friday was green! I stuck to my plan with the addition of 3 bananas (one banana per meal). That's 2 too many I'd say and not great for keeping my blood sugar stable but at least I didnt eat between meals.
Saturday was a good S day, not over the top. I had eggs and avocado for breakfast and then had a delightful lunch at my girlfriends baby shower. I kept it all gluten free. Finally, i made rice noodle pasta for dinner with the fam.

Today it looks like gorgeous weather and after church I think a picnic is in order..not sure what to pack yet:)

My food plan today:
Eggs, pork, avocado
Salad and sardines
Beef, veggies and roasted sweet potatoes

20 minute prenatal workout.

I can't remember if I've already told you this but I LOVE bananas. And ... um yeah for whatever reason (Murphy's Law?) they have a very extreme result when it comes to my blood sugar. Drat.